General Motors (NYSE: GM) is building far fewer of its relaunched Chevrolet Bolt EV than it originally planned, according to a union official cited by Reuters.
Output at the Fairfax, Kansas, plant is running about 75% below an earlier internal target, with the factory now on pace for roughly 35,000 units versus a plan closer to 150,000, the union estimate showed.
Fairfax layoffs and the shift that didn’t return
The shortfall has delayed the return of a second production shift and left nearly 1,000 workers on indefinite layoff at the plant, the union official said. GM has not confirmed the figures.
A spokesperson said only that the company ‘continuously evaluates market dynamics and customer demand,’ according to the Reuters report. GM sold 4,224 Bolts in the US in 2026 through August, the wire reported.
Local reporting has tracked the Fairfax layoffs rising incrementally over recent months, from an initial 680 workers to the current figure closer to 900, suggesting the reduction built up in stages rather than in one announcement. The 2027 Bolt relaunch had always been billed by GM as a limited-run model, with Fairfax expected to shift back toward gas-powered output once the EV cycle wound down.
Tax credit expiry weighs on demand
The production cut in the Bolt EV production run follows the expiry of the $7,500 federal EV buyer tax credit in September 2025, cited in reporting as a factor behind weaker-than-planned demand for the model. GM’s plan is to replace the lost EV volume at Fairfax with gas-powered Chevrolet Equinox and Buick Envision production, according to the same reporting.
A run of roughly 35,000 units is modest next to rival affordable EVs: Tesla sells a comparable number of Model Y SUVs in a single quarter, and Ford’s electric Mustang Mach-E found 51,620 buyers last year, the Reuters figures showed.
What the filings show, and what they don’t
None of this is disclosed in GM’s SEC filings, which report company-wide results rather than model-specific production runs. GM’s most recent 10-Q showed net income of $1.305bn for the second quarter of 2026, on revenue of $43.76bn, down from net income of $2.627bn on revenue of $39.35bn in the first quarter, according to EDGAR filings.
That quarterly profit was well below the $1.895bn GM reported for the second quarter of 2025 and the $2.933bn booked in the same quarter of 2024, filings show, a decline that spans the period in which EV demand cooled following the tax credit’s expiry. Diluted earnings per share fell to $1.41 in the second quarter of 2026 from $1.91 a year earlier and $2.55 two years earlier, according to the same quarterly filings. None of the filings break out Bolt-specific output, staffing or plant-level detail, leaving the union’s estimate as the only public figure on the model’s production run.
Shares near 20-day lows
GM shares closed at $80.63, little changed on the day but down 7.09% over the trailing 20 sessions and close to a 20-day low of $80.38, according to consolidated exchange data. Trading volume was in line with the recent average.
Daily short-sale volume in GM has moved between roughly 28% and 55% of total trading over the past two weeks, FINRA data show, with the ratio climbing to 0.551 on 28 September, the session before the Reuters report ran.
The backdrop for the stock includes a broader pullback in Treasury yields, with the 10-year yield at 5.17% as of 25 September, down slightly from 5.18% a week earlier, and the 2-year yield at 4.81%, according to Federal Reserve data. The unemployment rate held at 4.1% in August, separate Fed data show, a steady labour market that has not been enough to keep EV demand from cooling since the tax credit lapsed.
GM has not set a date to confirm final Bolt production numbers for the run, which Reuters reported is expected to wind down in the first quarter of next year.
This article is for information only and is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any asset. Markets move quickly; figures are correct as sourced at the time of writing. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
